Amazon inks deal to stream tons of older HBO shows starting in May.

According to a press release this morning, Amazon and HBO have signed a deal that will allow Amazon Prime customers to stream a significant portion of HBO's back catalog of original programming. The press release specifically lists critical standout shows like The Wire, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Deadwood; the deal also includes miniseries like Band of Brothers.

Streaming access to newer content under the deal is a little murkier, though. The press release states that access to shows like "Girls, The Newsroom, and Veep will become available... approximately three years after airing on HBO." Extremely hot shows, like Game of Thrones, appear to be excluded entirely.

The exclusion makes sense when viewed from HBO's perspective, since this kind of streaming deal is an easy way for HBO to monetize older dormant properties without having to shoulder the burden of content delivery (Amazon is doing the streaming, not HBO). It also increases mindshare and has the potential to drive users to become HBO subscribers—a casual streaming customer might catch Band of Brothers or From the Earth to the Moon and wonder if something even better awaits behind HBO's paywall.

But as noted, this isn't the full HBO GO experience—for that, customers will still have to actually pay a cable provider money (though who and how much will vary depending on your market). If you're one of those paying customers, the press release also notes that HBO GO will make an appearance on Amazon's Fire TV set-top box by the end of 2014.

The agreement is a "multiyear" one, meaning customers hopefully won't have to worry about programming vanishing suddenly as rights expire, Netflix-style. The initial batch of shows will be available to Prime customers starting May 21.

Lee Hutchinson
Lee is the Senior Technology Editor at Ars and oversees gadget, automotive, IT, and culture content. He also knows stuff about enterprise storage, security, and manned space flight. Lee is based in Houston, TX. Emaillee.hutchinson@arstechnica.com//Twitter@Lee_Ars